Marmo — Restaurant in Houston

Marmo is an upscale restaurant with a beautifully decorated atmosphere and gorgeous bar; however, that's mostly where the positives end. I came here with my husband to give this restaurant a try as a potential place to bring clients and unfortunately, it did meet the criteria. The live piano was a beautiful sight and change from loud music; however, even when the piano wasn't playing it was extremely loud inside to where we were having to talk in very raised voices just to hear one another. There is also not a walled off private room - there is a private room, but it's separated by a sheer curtain.

We sat a 2-person table, which felt oddly smaller than normal (perhaps this was just my perception and not reality because I didn't measure the tables) - one side had a chair and the other was a cushioned bench seat. Normally I love a cushioned bench seat, but this bench seat felt claustrophobic for whatever reason to where I had to take my jacket off because I felt like I just couldn't move - not something that I've experienced in my 30+ years of dining out. The menu was also oversized, which makes it easy to read, but not necessarily easy to handle, especially when someone is trying to move into the bench next to you and runs into your menu. Our waiter was new, but we got fairly indifferent vibes from him - normally when you mention it's your first time at a restaurant the waiter will offer the explain the menu and offer suggestions - none of that happened. While our waiter wasn't very personable, he was not rude - we didn't feel very welcome, but in the same sentiment we did not feel unwelcome. Again, he was new, so no points were deducted from our interaction with our waiter.

Before moving onto the food, I just wanted to add in that there are 4 individual (unisex) bathrooms. I personally like unisex bathrooms - it makes it families and encourages people to leave it more tidy. Anyways, when I went to the bathroom, there were 2/4 bathrooms were available - both were missing paper towels to dry my hands. For an expensive restaurant, this is simply unacceptable. I had to dry my hands with toilet paper. Also, you have to pay to park in the garage and the restaurants do not validate parking.

Finally, onto the food. Complimentary bread (focaccia I think) and butter with flaky salt is provided; however, the bread is small and served cold - simply providing warm bread would a huge improvement. We tried the basil lemonade mocktail (2.5/5), which I was mediocre and not worth the price. My husband ordered the squid ink campanelle (4/5) and I ordered the chicken parmesan with spaghetti alla chitarra (0/5). Perhaps I have rudimentary taste buds, but the spgahetti alla chitarra was practically inedible for me. On the menu it's described as "san marzano tomato sauce, basil", which I understood to be simple marinara or pomodoro sauce....boy was I wrong. The dish that came out had was extremely salty and the tomato sauce was VERY sour/acidic with a hint of sweetness. I prefer more acidic marinara sauces to sweet sauces, but this was another level. It tasted like tomatoes taken straight from a can and warmed up on the stove and then served without any herbs or spices. I sent the dish back and had another one brought out - this was was more edible in that the salt levels were contained; however, it still had this crazy sour/acidic taste to it. I ended up ordering the 8 oz wagyu skirt steak (5/5) which was absolutely delicious! It was tender like a filet and not as fatty as a ribeye. I hate having to send food back and normally I can power through it, but it was just one of those times where it wasn't in the cards. Despite my issues with the spaghetti, the staff at Marmo were absolutely amazing with trying to remedy the spaghetti and then swapping it for me for the steak - 5/5 on service!

In a nutshell, this restaurant has a kind waitstaff and managers, and the food is certainly unique. I wouldn't come here with a big group simply because you'll be yelling to hear each other; however, they do have portion sizes to support...

So I wanted to try this place during happy hour and then planned on going back if it was good to try the full menu. The food was good. But the service was not. The host were polite but it seemed like they were not listening to me or on the same page with each other on my reservation. I was worried about sitting outdoors because of the direct sun, and wanted to move inside If there is no covered patio. And they told me I would have to be on a wait list which is understandable. But then the other host who was there while I was talking to the other host, asked me if I had a reservation. I was just confused because they were both there talking to me just a min ago. But we got the covered patio sitting which was fine. It was just odd, that I talked to both of them and they didn’t completely understand. Felt like they were following a script. To preface the table service, my boyfriend and I were servers before and recognize what good service is and if the server is having a bad night or is backed up. We always tip more than 20% but this was terrible. It was not even that busy and I noticed the managers and other wait staff were paying attention to other tables more than us when we clearly had dirty plates everywhere waiting to be bussed, and me and the rest of my party (4) just sitting there twiddling our thumbs waiting for someone to come take care of us. Water being filled was inconsistent. The server or other wait staff would come and fill one of our glasses and leave the rest of the table empty??? Like how does that make sense? And the food took forever to come out. It shouldn’t take so long for oysters, and small plates of pasta to come out during happy hour. The server Chris also forgot to put in my white fish dish, and we were left sitting there waiting and waiting while he was talking to other tables. And this was not just polite talking and taking care of other tables, it was socializing talking. And when we asked for the check, he didn’t even recognize that he forgot, and he also didn’t even ask if we wanted to split the check between my boyfriend and I, and his two friends. It was clearly obvious since we ordered in pairs. And then when my boyfriend paid for the whole check, the server gave us attitude when he saw we tipped less than 20% and smacked his toast pos system. We had servers before that were having terrible nights and was not talkative to us or gave us one word answers and we tipped them half the bill because we get it. We been there. But Chris was not...

Some of the best pasta I’ve tried! Flavor, presentation, texture was all excellent.

Indoor and outdoor seating both have great ambiance, great live music (albeit a bit loud indoors), romantic and cozy atmosphere. The servers are very attentive and knowledgeable about any questions regarding menu and alternative options for those with dietary preferences/restrictions.

Love the fact that we can customize the sauce and get some options without alcohol added if you have dietary limitations such as halal only. Some things are cooked in sauces with alcohol in the base, and some of those additions aren’t listed on the menu, so ask them if you’re looking for halal only. They also have plenty of vegetarian friendly options.

I tried the Squid Ink Campanelle: This pasta was made with fresh blue crab, uni cream sauce chili, basil, topped with crusted breadcrumbs. The squid ink was subtle and not overwhelming, and gave the pasta a nice bold color. The blue crab was divine, cooked to perfection and so soft, mixed perfectly with the sauce and taste was perfectly layered.

Other items we had: Lobster Fra Diavolo, which was made with spaghetti, spicy tomato sauce, and basil, (it’s also made with brandy in base of the sauce usually, but they were able to substitute with the tomato sauce).

Rigatoni Alla Vodka (minus the vodka): Usually made with tomato cream sauce mixed with vodka, and parmigiano. Again we were able to have the sauce substituted to a plain tomato sauce with no alcohol mixed in the base.

Oyster on the half shell: This was served with Calabrian chili mignonette sauce. My first time trying oyster and was definitely not disappointed, had a great umami flavor, and shucked perfectly. Sadly found out the base of the mignonette sauce is also mixed with red or white wine vinegar, (alternate is rice vinegar, but I don’t believe they have that here). So to the halal community, the sauce is not halal!

Spaghetti Alla Chitarra: Made with san marzano tomato sauce mixed with basil. Basic ingredients in this dish but cookies with elevated flavor and depths.

In conclusion, great options to choose from. The pasta sauce choices are pretty limited if you factor in how many have alcohol bases, so if you’re are looking for halal only options just be careful of what you get.

Overall delicious, highly recommended visiting at least once to try my personal favorite which was the squid ink...